1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a light bar for use on the exterior of emergency vehicles where the light bar is designed to have a low-profile when mounted to the vehicle. In particular, the present invention pertains to a light bar having a flexible support that can be curved to match the curvature of the top edge of the vehicle windshield when installing the light bar on the vehicle, giving the light bar a low profile relative to the vehicle and giving the vehicle a stealth or “unmarked” appearance.
2. Description of the Related Art
Light bars are typically used on emergency vehicles by being mounted to the roof or top of the vehicle with the light bar extending across substantially the entire width of the vehicle. This positioning of the light bar enhances the ability of the flashing warning lights of the light bar to be seen from in front of the vehicle and from behind the vehicle. In addition, many light bars are constructed with flashing warning lights at their opposite ends that enable the light bar to be easily seen from the sides of the vehicle. However, in many police functions, in particular traffic control, it is desirable that the police vehicle have a stealth or “unmarked” appearance of an ordinary vehicle when the warning lights are not in use, and that the vehicle become instantly recognizable as an emergency vehicle when the warning lights are energized.
For many years, the stealth or “unmarked” appearance of emergency vehicles, and in particular police vehicles, was accomplished by using a small, rotating beacon that was operated by power received from the cigar lighter outlet of the vehicle. These emergency lights typically comprised a transparent or translucent colored dome that was mounted on a magnetic base of the light. The dome covered over a rotating or flashing light assembly within the dome. This emergency light was kept inside the vehicle within access of the driver or another officer in the vehicle until needed. When needed, the emergency light was plugged into the vehicle cigar lighter outlet and the magnetic base of the light was positioned on the vehicle dashboard or on the roof or top surface of the vehicle.
Emergency lights of this type enabled the police vehicle to have a stealth or “unmarked” appearance because the emergency light was kept inside the vehicle until needed. However, as the designs of vehicles have changed over the years, use of this type of emergency light has waned because vehicles are now often constructed with dashboards and roofs of nonmetallic materials. In addition, the optical energy of this type of emergency light provides only a tiny fraction of that required by current national standards such as SAE J2498, Minimum Performance of the Warning Light System Used on Emergency Vehicles, and the requirements for small vehicles contained in NFPA 1901, Standard for Automotive Fire Apparatus.
At the present time one of the most popular approaches to installing emergency warning lights on a vehicle while maintaining a stealth or “unmarked” appearance of the vehicle is to install multiple small warning light assemblies on the inside of the vehicle. These emergency light assemblies are typically mounted on the dashboard inside the windshield of the vehicle and on the rear window deck inside the rear window of the vehicle. However, this type of emergency warning light is disadvantaged in that virtually all of the light energy is directed toward the front and rear of the vehicle. Little or none of the flashing signal provided by the light assemblies is directed to the sides or corners of the vehicle to provide protection when the emergency vehicle is entering intersections. In addition, because the highest performance lights are inside the vehicle and the signal light must pass through the angled windshield and rear window, a substantial amount of the light is lost to refraction and reflection. Even more of the light is lost if the windshield or rear window are tinted. Furthermore, unless the emergency light is sealed to the glass of the windshield and rear window, the light may be reflected back into the vehicle and into the eyes of the vehicle's driver.
Another popular approach to installing warning lights on emergency vehicles while maintaining the stealth or “unmarked” appearance of the vehicle is to install small strobe lights into the vehicles turn signal assemblies, stop taillight assemblies, and backup light assemblies. However, these new systems often do not comply with the requirements of the current national standards for emergency vehicle signal lights, and the systems are extremely expensive to install. Furthermore, when the emergency vehicle is decommissioned, these systems are also extremely expensive to remove from the vehicle before the decommissioned vehicle is sold.
To overcome the problems associated with providing a vehicle with emergency warning lights while also maintaining the stealth or “unmarked” appearance of the vehicle, what is needed is an emergency warning light system where all of the systems warning lights are mounted on the exterior of the vehicle, yet the warning lights would be virtually invisible when viewed at a distance from the vehicle. The system would also be inexpensive as well as easily installed on the vehicle, inexpensively and easily serviced, and inexpensively and easily removed from the vehicle without any significant damage to the vehicle.